"Rex" a sound, barely a whisper escapes my mouth.

Akira's pov

His eyes open in confusion as I stumble back. I slip on the blood on the ground and my knife goes crashing down. The sound of the metal on the concrete floor reverberates in the dark chamber.

No. This is not possible. This cannot happen. I am hallucinating. Breathe Akira. Pull yourself together.

"Get him to the hospital" I command the guard standing in the corner who looks startled "I want him alive"

I rush out before either Diana or Leo could speak up. What am I doing? How is he- It could be someone else with a similar scar. Control yourself Akira, you can't break down in front of them.

I reach the car and open the door. Pain shoots through my arm, blinding me for a second. Fucking hell. The door is opened by Leo who is panting fom probably running behind me.

"Are you okay? What happened? Did he hurt you?" He asks, his face lined with worry.

I shake my head and silently enter the car. He sits beside me as Diana enters the car as well. She turns back to meet my eyes.

"What happened baby?" She asks softly, her eyes boring into mine as if they already know.

I shake my head, not knowing what to make of the jumbled thoughts in my head.

***

"Eat before they find us" Rex whispers, looking around frantically to make sure we are alone.

"Won't you have some?" I whisper through a mouthful.

He shakes his head "No it's not- It's all I could find for today, I don't want you to drop again-"

His breath hitches a group boys start walking towards us. He stands up and pushes old blankets and cardboard boxes in front of me to hide me.

"You stole from that bakery" A muffled voice enters my ear.

"No" Rex's steady voice.

"Give us the food" I hear another one say.

Rex mutters something.

"Aw your so strong now?" A mocking voice from the back.

My blood boils at their comments. Rex is the strongest person I know. He's a hundred fold better than those cowards who can't steal their own food.

They say something, their voices so low I could hear nothing. I try to finish the piece of bread in my hands as quickly as possible. But the blankets and boxes are ripped apart as a boy with a baseball bat hanging in his hand smiles evilly at me.

"Leave her alone!" Rex shouts while two boys hold him back by his arms.

The boy looks back and smirks before snatching the piece of bread from my hands and pocketing it. I stare at him in horror as my food is taken from me. He looks back and grabs me by my hair and yanks me towards Rex.

There's shouting around me but everything feels secondary against the pain issuing from my scalp and knees. I scraped my knees on the gravel. I finally gather the guts to get up, just to find all the boys huddled around a curled up rex, kicking him and swinging their bats at him.

"No" My voice drowns amongst their shouts and I don't have the nerve to speak up again.

After what feels like an eternity, they finally back up leaving an almost unconscious Rex. They turn to me. I scurry back, the gravel scraping my hands, as I try to save myself.

One boy pushes me, making me land on my side and hit the gravel underneath. They raise their bats to strike me. Stones hitting their head stops them in their tracks, leaving the bats hanging from hands. They turn to find Rex, bloody and bruised, throwing stones from the gravel.

They all turn to him and I make a run to save myself. Finally, after fifteen excruciating minutes, their voices die down and the sound of their steps does too. Silently, I push the cardboard box and blanket off me and run towards Rex.

He isn't moving. There is blood around him. My heart is pounding in my ears. I can't lose him. I kneel beside him, the gravel sticking to my scarped knees.

"Rex?" I say, my voice small, as I turn him face up.

His face is bloody. A long cut from the side of his forehead down to his cheekbone is bleeding profusely. He groans from the pain and, with great effort, gets up. I quietly follow behind him.

"I'm sorry" I say guiltily, that I didn't help him.

He smiles crookedly "It's okay kira, are you okay?"

I nod.

***

"-kira?" I look around startled to find Leo staring at me, concerned.

"You okay?" He asks.

I nod, the pulsating pain in my left bicep has become more pronounced. A reminder goes off on his phone. He starts rummaging in his pocket and forwards me a tablet.

"It's time for these" He says picking a bottle of water from the side and then frowns "The effects of last ones must have worn off. Why didn't you tell me that you were hurting?"

I shrug as I take the tablet from his hand and pop it into my mouth. I take the water and swallow the tablet, grateful to finally have some relief from the constant pain. Everything else feels like a lucid dream after that. The drug is too strong.

---

I have no memory of the car stopping or me exiting it. Now I've been woken from my sleep by Eiran for dinner. He tells me that I over exerted myself today which is why the doctor had to put the IV in again. I nod along to his words absent mindedly. Leo is sitting on the couch beside the bed, copying work. Probably from Kai's.

It's chicken noodle soup that Eiran has brought.

"I'll do it myse-" I start, raising my hand with the IV to try to grip the spoon.

Eiran looks at the scene in horror and carefully places my hand back down.

"You don't have to do anything" he says blowing on a spoonful to cool it down.

Silently, I eat. The food along with the medication is making me feel sleepy. Eiran asks me about my day and I give small one worded answers. Thankfully, he doesn't ask about what happened at the prison. However, the relief doesn't last long as Leo's phone starts ringing. He answers the phone and puts it on speaker while he did his homework.

"Hello?" He answers the call.

"Why the fuck is the prisoner in a fucking hospital and out of his cell?" Boss on the other end speaks up, his voice low with rage.

Fuck. Why didn't I think of this? Who am I to decide if he should be taken out of his cell or not? I've made him mad.

"Akira's orders" Leo answers shortly.

My sleep is all gone now as I listen for his reply. I'm gonna face his wrath. Who even am I? I don't have a rank to make such commands-

"Alright" his calm voice cuts through my anxiety inducing thoughts.

"Did she have dinner?-Only give her light meals and give her some chocolate milk after. I've stocked up the fridge with it." He says, his voice still as blank as Leo tries to hold in a smile.

"Yes, oka-" boss ends the call before Leo could finish.

With a smile, Leo turns to me and Eiran and speaks up in a baby voice "Eiran will you give her her chocolate milk after the meal?"

Eiran laughs, but seeing me stare sharply at him, he stops immediately. After the soup is finished, Leo goes out and brings some milk. Chocolate milk to be specific. What do they think I am? A child?

He pokes in the straw and holds it infront of me to drink. I turn my head to the side. He brings it over to that side. I turn my head the other way. He brings the straw in front of me again.

"Hey, seb will kill me if he found out you didn't drink it because of me, so yeah.." he pleads with his eyes as his other hand rubs the back of his neck.

Finally after ten more minutes of refusing and him pleading, I finally take a sip of that heavenly milk. Ahm..I mean the disgustingly sweet kids milk. I do not like it, just to be clear. But holy shit is that one of the best liquids I've ever had except cold water.

---

I wake to once again nurses bustling around me.

"Good morning Ms Volkov" One of them smiles and says.

I nod stiffly. I have a headache. What a way to start the day. They've detached my IV and I can't be happier. I won't have to be fed like a child now. Kai enters the room as the nurses start to exit.

"Good morning ma'am" He says playfully while pulling a chair closer to my bed.

I nod. How do these people smile in the morning?

"What's up?" He asks in that same laid back way of his "you look a bit off."

I shrug "I'm good"

"Okay..anyways, you don't have to worry about other things, I mean school things cause I did all your school work" he says proudly and then adds "actually Leo helped too"

I nod. I had completely forgotten about school.

"Also the doctor told me that you are free to do your usual stuff if you don't let your injuries get wet or something like that" He smiles down at me.

Finally no more bed. I am getting sick of this shit.

"And he was angry that mom and Leo let you go out yesterday, because you know.. you're still weak from the medication and stuff" he goes on twirling my sheets in his hand "he was also hesitant to patch up the prisoner that you sent to the hospital"

I look up at him, my eyes sharp.

He notices and laughs "don't worry Seb told him to get on with it, he said that it's an order even if he didn't give it."

I nod. Wow. He really wasn't angry then. My head is hurting way to much for me to figure out what kinda game he was playing. Some things just don't line up.

"Why did you not kill him?" He asks, looking straight at me "the prisoner"

I look away. What do I tell him? Even I don't know. That man could be anyone. He tried to kill me. But the scar..it's too much to think about. I don't want to think about it.

I think he understands. He starts talking about other things, school, bikes, new additions he made to the mafia's cyber security. My headache is getting worse by the minute. I can't focus on shit.

After a while, I guess he figures out that I need silence. He offers to escort me to my room. I nod. My room. That's what I need.

Third person pov

She takes a shower and takes her medicine. It puts her under a haze, making her decide to take a nap. She is woken from up from her usual nightmares by Diana.

Diana gives her lunch in bed and offers to help her eat. She immediately turns down the offer. Her mind strays off to the prisoner. She has to meet him.

The lose of her knife is also heightening her anxiety. She heads towards Diana's office.

"Come in" Diana's commanding voice comes through the door.

Akira enters.

Diana looks up from the numerous papers around her, a frown on her face.

"What's up kiddo?" She asks, a smile making its way onto her face.

"Can you drive me to hospital?" She asks, her voice carefully blank and to add she gestured to her bandaged left arm "I can't really.."

Without a second thought, Diana gets up from her desk. She knew why she wanted to go to the hospital. She didn't understand why Akira was doing what she was but trusted her judgement nonetheless.

She grabbed her car keys and they both make their way downstairs. She looks up at the watch and as if suddenly remembering something, turns to Akira.

"Did you take your pills on time?" She asks.

Akira nods, anxiety knotting in her stomach. Leo steps into the room, eyes focused on his phone.

He looks up from his phone and asks as he put it away "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Akira to the hospital" Diana answers.

His eyes widen in worry "What happned to her? Is she-"

"She's fine" She cuts across his worries.

"Then why.." It suddenly dawns on him and speaks up "Oh..-Can I come?"

"Akira is it okay if he-" Diana turns to see the room empty and turns back to Leo "I guess you can."

They both walk out to find Akira already standing by the car, an odd stiffness to her. Silently, they sit inside and Diana drives them. Leo tries to make small talk but Akira's short and vague answers make him stop.

They exit their car and walk into the hospital. Dr. Nakamura stops in his track while passing by them. He gestures to the nurse behind him who brings forth Akira's knife. Relief flooding through her, she takes the knife silently.

"He tried to use this knife to stab himself" Doctor explains "However, the guard stopped him before he could do much damage"

All three of them nod.

"He's also tried to pull out his IVs and other methods to kill himself" He continues "So we had to tie him up"

They nod and the doctor reciprocates the it stiffly before walking away. The nurse guides them to the room. Akira keeps repeating the lines that she has practiced in her mind. Her hands feel slippery from the sweat, so she rubs them on her pants.

"I'll go" She says, raising a hand to stop them both from entering.

They both stand outside, watching through the small glass window on the door, while Akira opens the door. The same man, now hooked to to IVs and ECG(heart rate monitor), opened his eyes into two miniscule slits.

Her heart pounding in her ears and nails digging into her palm, she comes to stop an arm's length away from the man. His eyes follow her each movement , like a predator ready to pounce on bis prey.

"Who are you?" She asks, her tone cold as ice as it bit through the air between them, while she tried her best to not let her voice shake.

He stared at her, opening his eyes fully. A tense silence took over the room as they both stared at each other. He seemed to weigh his options.

"G - 396i" He speaks up, voice hoarse and eyes waiting for a potential attack.

She stared at him, her throat felt like it was closing in on itself. She decided to try once more, the scar holding her captive.

"What's your name?" She asks, her voice low as the lump in her throat tightened.

"I told you" He answers, his voice scratchy.

She nods and turns around, her hands shaking. The door opens before she could reach it.

"What happened Akira?" He looks worried while she pushes him to the side and runs out.

Diana runs after her. Leo turns to the man in bed, ready to kill him, to find his heart rate going haywire as the rapid beeps filled the room.

"What is her na-me?" He asks, his voice tight.

"Akira" Leo spits out before walking off.

---

"What happened baby?" diana asks, sitting on the grass beside Akira.

She shakes her head, staring ahead.

"You don't have to hurt in silence you know?" Leo sit son the other side of her.

"You can kill him" She speaks up, her voice low.

"I wi-" Leo is cut off by a nurse running towards him.

He comes to a stop infront of them and speaks frantically "The patient's vitals getting out of control and he's asking for you ma'am"

Leo notices the light in her eyes and gives her a hand to get up. She takes his hand they follow the nurse inside. Leo enters the room, gesturing Akira to remain outside.

The man's eyes focus on Leo as he speaks up "I need to talk to that girl"

"'That girl' is my sister-" His anger starts to front.

"Sir, I beg you, let me talk to her for two minutes and you can kill me then" He cuts him off with his steady voice and sure.

Akira walks into the room making it go silent. The man's eyes follow her as she comes to stand beside Leo.

"Get out" she whispers to Leo.

He glares at the man before walking out to his mom. The room is silent with a rather quick but consistent beeping of the heart rate monitor.

"Akira?" His voice, barely above a whisper, escapes his lips.

Akira nods, her throat closing in.

The frantic beating of his heart fills the room as she asks in a tight voice, "Rex?"

He nods aggressively, tears now freely streaming down his face.

A sound—a sniffle—escapes Akira before she throws herself into his arms. His hands are tied down at his sides, metal shackles biting into his wrists as he strains to hold her. They refuse to budge.

She clings to him like he’s the only thing keeping her grounded, her sobs muffled against his chest.

"Why’d you l-leave?" The innocent, scared girl asks through sniffles.

"I-I'm sorry, Kira. I’m so—so sorry." Sobs rack his body.

"I missed y-you, R-rex," she whispers.

"I missed you too, Kira," he says softly, voice barely above a breath as he leans in.

She giggles. Whispering always tickled.

She pulls back. He instinctively moves to wipe away her tears, but the shackles stop him short. She does it herself, rubbing at her cheeks with the back of her hand. Then, carefully, she traces the lines of his face, brushing away the dampness clinging to his skin.

Her face hardens.

She turns.

His heart lurches as his mind scrambles for an explanation. No. Not again. But the moment the door clicks shut behind her, reality sets in like a slow, creeping chill.

It was just another hallucination.

His chest tightens as he stares at his shackled hands, the metal digging into raw skin. A few minutes pass, but the room still feels full—like someone is watching.

He looks up.

Through the glass window in the door, a woman stares at him.

He exhales shakily, looks away. The steady beeping of the machine is the only sound left.

He had thought the hallucinations had stopped.

It was probably the drugs.

There's commotion outside. They've finally come to kill him, he thinks. Instead, a livid Akira kicks opens the door as nurses scurry behind her. The nurses immediately get to opening up the shackles and he can still hear her shouting commands.

He can finally move, and the nurses all immediately step away from him, afraid that he might attack them. He looks around as an old lady and the same angry boy who has identified as Akira's brother enter the room. Now it's only them four in the room and he looks up only at Akira.

"Who are you?" Diana asks, her voice commanding.

He looks down at the bruises forming on his wrists and on the numbers tattooed under them "G - 396i"

His hollow eyes meet Diana's. He notices Akira looking away, her jaw clenched, as he spoke. He turns his head to look at Leo.

"Take care of your sister" He says taking a deep breath before pulling out the IVs which snaked up from his arms, two at a time.

Akira froze at the sight of her brother trying to kill himself. There were shouts around her, people shoving her as they rushed to him. His breathing became laboured and he looked up with a slight crooked smile, meant only for her.

She stayed frozen while his face vanishes among the blue and white of the medical staff. The nurses seemed to get farther and farther before being completely blocked from view as the door closed shut.

She saw the red spill of his blood against the white of the sheets and the floor through the window. They lower the oxygen mask which he weakly tries to fight and loses. Leo's face obscures her view. He turns her face to the side while saying something that she couldn't hear.

He holds her uninjured arm and pulls her out of there. She looks down to see her chest heaving for air as her hands shook. All of a sudden, there was grass around her. There was water, a hand holding it out to her.

The water flows down her throat, cooling her insides. A dull, constant pain from her arm takes over. Her surroundings are blurry, seen through the haze of tears. She's being hugged. Someone's patting her back as a soothing voice says something.

She can't hold it in any longer. It's too much-too heavy. The guilt. The fear. The suspicions. A tremor runs through her body, barely noticeable. A quiver of her lip, followed by a sob which managed to break free of the pressure in her throat. And then it all comes crashing down.

She wraps her arms around herself, nails digging into the skin of her arms, in an useless attempt to hold herself. She cries. But she shouldn't. Isn't allowed to. More sobs rake her body, the pain in her arm feel like a distant thing. She brings death wherever she goes.

Rex tried to kill himself because of her. He hates her now. Her brother hates her. She can handle this, she tries to tell herself, she always has. But why does it hurt? Hurt more than those days she had to starve herself? Hurt more than when she made her first kill? Hurt more than getting shot?

Everybody always taught her how to be the perfect killer. How to stay detached. How to make the cleanest cut. How to destroy a person with poison, a knife, or a gun.

But why didn’t they teach her how to fix things?

How to make her brother okay? How to make him stop hating her? How to take the guilt away?

How to stop hurting everyone who ever came near her?

She ran out of tears to cry but the pressure remained there, choking her. She choked on air. She opens her eyes to Diana holding her in her arms, Leo and Kai hugging her from the side while Eiran held water and sat kneeling in front of her. They saw her, She notes.

Well, what did she have left to hide? They had already dug up the past which she tried her best to leave behind. To forget. She had nothing left to hide.

She wipes her tears on the back of her hand. She would try to preserve what little self respect was left. Diana opens up her arms, letting her escape her hold. Eiran offers her water and she takes it, silently. The water chokes her before going down her throat.

She gives him the bottle back. He asks her something, his voice gentle. She turns around, her focus on the glass doors of the hospital. She stumbles forward, trying to leave everyone behind. She bumps into someone, her injured arm erupting in electrifying pain.

She grinds her teeth as pushes through. Not so far now, she tells herself. Someone tries to take her other arm, to support her. She doesn't need help, she thinks as she pulls her arm back. Why do they try to help? Don't they know it never ends well? never.

She noticed the receptionist's eyes widen when she entered. She must look like a mess, she observed. She comes to a stop outside his room. She sits there, on the cold chairs. She could wait her whole life if it meant that he would be better.

G - 396i, that was how he had identified himself. That's who he is now. She dug her nails into her arm, hoping that would ground her. She had believed him dead once, she can't handle it all over again. This time it would be too painful to bear. She doesn't know if she can.

"Rex" His name, like a prayer, rolled off her tongue.

A.N---

Hey guys:)

A long asf chapter for my pookies :D

The next chapter will be out as soon as I can write it. This stuff can be tiring lol.

What are your thoughts on Rex?

I really hope you guys liked this chapter 'cause I out my blood, sweat, and tears in this shit, so you better lol..

Anyways, please comment on your favourite moments(I read every single one of them) or click the star button below to show your support.